~Chapter 86~
‘Good.’
Camilla quietly rejoiced.
After successfully finishing her deal with Lux in exchange for the golden potion, she had been speeding up her research on the antidote.
‘…It’s not that there’s no reaction at all.’
When she dropped a single drop of the solution she made onto the red herb, the veins of the leaf turned a murky purple.
‘It needs something more than just an oxidation reaction.’
She recorded it in her notes, but progress was slow.
She sighed.
Bang.
“…You were… here.”
At Meisa’s unexpected appearance, Camilla quickly covered the red herb with a cloth.
“What brings you here, Assistant?”
‘Damn.’
Camilla steadied her expression to hide her tension. She had not expected Meisa to come at this hour.
‘She must not find out I’m researching the antidote.’
The hostile Meisa would not help her make one.
“…This scent… You were studying the red herb.”
Meisa suddenly leaned closer and whispered. Camilla felt her heart drop.
But something felt strange. Meisa’s face was flushed, and she smelled of wine.
‘She’s been drinking.’
After a brief silence, Camilla tilted her head.
“I’m not sure what you mean. I’m making the medicine Her Majesty requested. If you’re not here to learn the recipe, please leave.”
“…Do you want to know the key to the antidote?”
Meisa asked, her eyes glistening strangely. Whatever had changed her mood, it did not feel good.
“I said I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Suddenly, Meisa grabbed Camilla’s wrist and smiled crookedly.
“It’s Aurevita! A hybrid herb bred from plants of the Eastern Continent!”
Camilla’s eyes widened.
“You’ll never obtain it. Because it’s hidden in the cracks of Stella’s secret laboratory walls!”
Meisa laughed madly as she whispered.
“Ah. You don’t know who Stella is. Hehehe. Anyway, without Aurevita, you will never make the antidote.”
“…Aurevita? What kind of effect does it have?”
“Haha…! Well, it…”
At the casual question, Meisa began rambling. As Camilla listened to the effects, she thought it sounded similar to the anticancer medicine from her previous life.
“…What’s the point of telling you this now.”
After talking excitedly, Meisa suddenly lowered her head, her drunken eyes exhausted.
“You and I… we both have such worthless lives, hic.”
“My life is not worthless, Assistant. Even if I was brought here, I’m doing quite well.”
Camilla answered clearly.
“No! You are worthless! I’ll make you that way!”
Camilla brushed off Meisa’s hands from her shoulders and sighed.
“If you’re drunk, stop bothering busy people and go back to sleep.”
At that, Meisa staggered away.
“…I drank too much.”
“I know.”
“…Tomorrow… take care of the herb field for me… hic…”
“Is that why you came? Understood. Now go.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Click.
The door closed. Camilla frowned.
‘What is she planning?’
An apology like that only made her more suspicious.
Still, the hint about the crack in the secret laboratory wall left a bitter taste.
‘…Aurevita. I’m glad I made that deal with Lux.’
He would surely deliver news of her to the outside at the right time.
And the next day, when she arrived at the herb field in place of Meisa—who was too drunk to come—Camilla finally understood why Meisa had apologized.
“Lady Camilla!”
Her eyes brightened.
“Kabul!”
Beyond the crack in the wall, Kabul faced her with a reliable expression.
“It was worth threatening Meisa, Your Grace.”
“Wait—Your Grace? And… threatening?”
“Ah, you didn’t know. The young master has become the Grand Duke.”
Camilla felt her chest swell.
‘Dane inherited the title at the family council.’
She wanted to congratulate him first. But the fact that she could not see him right now hurt.
Forcing down the urge to ask more about Dane, she asked Kabul about the threat.
Had Meisa helped him come here?
Kabul smiled slightly.
“If the Empress Dowager kidnapped you, I assumed she would let Meisa and Your Grace meet, considering her twisted personality.”
He said he had claimed he knew they had taken her and that he wanted revenge on the daughter of the Mowin family.
“I know you took her! I want revenge on that girl too, so tell me where she is! Something like that.”
“…I see.”
Now she understood why her mother had apologized.
“So Mother sold me again.”
“Ah, no…! It’s not exactly—!”
“It’s fine. Strangely, I don’t feel anything.”
Kabul waved his hands nervously, but Camilla remembered that even after meeting her mother again, her feelings had not changed.
She had another family now. There was no time to care about someone she had already abandoned in her heart.
She just wanted to see Dane.
“I was also planning to send someone outside, but you were faster. Did you come to rescue me?”
Lux had said it would take time for Amelia to leave the villa, so getting help from outside would be delayed.
Meeting Kabul first was fortunate.
He nodded.
“Yes. With this person’s help, I believed we could rescue you.”
Kabul stepped aside slightly, revealing someone hidden behind his large frame.
Camilla’s eyes widened.
She had never met her before, yet the face resembled someone she knew too closely.
“…Countess Hayden?”
Amelia’s mother. The King’s mistress. Countess Hayden.
In the original story, Amelia directly acted as a villain only once at the very end.
‘Mother is carrying His Majesty’s child again!’
‘I… I’ll be forgotten. Sob… But you won’t forget me…!’
As she tried to kill Nina, Lux stopped her. Amelia lost her balance, slipped, and hit her head fatally.
It shocked Lux, who had cared for her, and Nina, who witnessed someone die before her eyes.
‘And that was the end of any mention of Countess Hayden.’
But now, the real Countess Hayden stood before Camilla.
“…I also have the key to this side gate. I thought I could help.”
Click.
As she opened the gate, Camilla was able to clearly see Kabul outside.
“Your Grace!”
‘I heard it earlier, but I’m still not used to that title…’
Beside him stood Countess Hayden.
She was a beauty resembling Amelia, but unlike her cold, mocking daughter, she seemed timid and gentle.
“She suspected the sleeping incense early on, knowing His Majesty’s condition was worsening.”
And she said it had affected her as well, since she inhaled it too.
“After rescuing Your Grace, she will also help us ensure His Majesty consumes the antidote.”
Kabul pulled out a bundle from his coat.
Camilla’s eyes widened as she checked the vial inside.
“…This is.”
“This antidote was completed by Lady Renelia using the note you left before your kidnapping. It is not perfect, but it should ease the madness.”
‘They found the clue in the laboratory from the note I left.’
Camilla’s face brightened.
That meant they had completed it using Aurevita.
It was incredible luck that an old memory from her dream became the key.
“May I examine it for a moment?”
“Of course. And from now on, Your Grace will—”
Carefully, Camilla opened the lid. A faint grassy scent mixed with a metallic smell filled the air.
‘…Wait. This is Aurevita?’
Thinking back on what Meisa had rambled about, Camilla fell into thought.
Suddenly, she lifted her head and asked Kabul, who was enthusiastically explaining the rescue plan,
“Kabul, is this meant for oral administration?”
“Yes, that’s what I was told.”
Camilla paused.
“Ahem. Anyway, during the time when the guards change shifts, Countess Hayden will lead us through the servants’ gate—”
“To prove treason, treating His Majesty’s madness is most important, correct?”
“…That is true.”
In that case.
“Kabul. Wait. We cannot give this medicine to His Majesty as it is.”
“Ah, because it is only a suppressor?”
“…That too. But if he takes this, His Majesty will suffer respiratory distress.”
“What?!”
Most importantly—
“This medicine is not meant to be taken orally.”
